Checking into the World Economic Forum’s Public Events in Davos

Registering:

You have to register a week or so beforehand to attend—you cannot register day of.

I saw people turned away at the door for not having registered, and it only takes a minute, so plan ahead!

You will be able to register on the Open Forum website a couple months before the event, which is always held in Davos in mid- to late-January.

Getting there:

I was a bit overwhelmed when I showed up in Davos train station because there are a huge number of people in suits walking around and workers trying to direct the crowds towards the more exclusive events.

As an Open Forum attender you should just ignore the crowd directors and start walking to the Open Forum venue, which this year was the Tobelmuehle Sports Hall. This is about a 10-15 minute walk from the station, and there are signs pointing the way.

Davos:

The part of Davos relevant to the Forum is basically just one street a few blocks long. I was surprised at how small it all was.

The buildings host different ‘houses’ like ‘Ukraine House,’ ‘South Africa House,’ ‘India House,’ etc showing off a county or company’s progress towards meeting goals the Forum might approve of.

Interestingly, there were a bunch of people handing out copies of the Wall Street Journal, I suspect so the paper would be seen in the hands of important people if they were photographed at the event.

Panels:

You have to go through a little bit of security to get to the Open Forum panels, where your registration is checked and your items go through a security scanner.

This only took a couple minutes, and then I found a seat! There was a lot of space, which makes sense—Davos is pretty far out of the way in Switzerland and not many people would want or be able to just drop by to see a panel on a weekday morning.

Panels are also hosted online in real time and after the fact. Each panel is an hour long, including time for audience Q&A.

I went to two: Sustainably Served (9:30am) and Protecting the Climate Vulnerable (12:00pm).

Lunch:

Between panels I walked down the main street of Davos looking for some lunch. Every place was packed.

I got a bar seat at a restaurant called SOKO and, dear reader, I have never seen prices like I saw on this day. 18 CHF for six dumplings. This place was really milking the high-powered Forum attenders for all they had.

Fortunately for me I struck up a conversation with another person at the bar who ended up paying for my food on his way out. I assume he wrote it off as a business expense. Nice!

For the more thrifty among us Open Forum attendees could make their way a few minutes down the main street to Coop, where food is more reasonably priced.

Leaving:

There were two more Open Forum events in the afternoon and evening but I didn’t really feel like sticking around given the 3-hour train ride back to Zurich.

I also thought about going again later in the week but didn’t feel like facing a 6-hour round trip again.

The panels were okay but not particularly Earth-shattering, and nothing I hadn’t heard before after working for a few years in the climate policy space.

It was mostly just interesting to check out the vibe and talk to other people at the event.

If you have the time and inclination it could be a fun to check out Open Forum, although I’d probably pair it with site-seeing or skiing in the area as well. Or if you're really extraverted, it could be a great way to meet people in interesting organizations and get invited to the more exclusive events.

Three snacks!